


Devoted dad, thoughtless teenager

by yogini



Series: The Babysitter Chronicles [24]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Asshole Derek, Babysitter!Stiles, Dad!Derek, Derek Being an Idiot, Derek Needs To Use His Words, M/M, Parenthood, Pets, Responsibility, kid!Laura
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-25
Updated: 2015-04-25
Packaged: 2018-03-25 18:08:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3819931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yogini/pseuds/yogini
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Where is she?” Derek asked as soon as they’d left the building, looking around sharply, and Stiles groaned at the stupidity of the question.<br/>“Seriously Derek, how do you even manage without me?” he asked, looking completely exasperated. “She’s right over... there…” Stiles mouth fell open when he turned to look at the lamppost that he’d tied Leia to, where there was currently no dog in sight, and the last word came out barely audible. “I mean… She was just…” He looked around frantically. “She’s… gone?”</p><p>or</p><p>After an incident with Leia, Derek starts to doubt that Stiles is really ready to assume the necessary responsibility to truly become a parent…</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own Teen Wolf or any of the characters in the series, I'm just borrowing them from their respective owners to play with a little and I promise to give them back when I'm done. No copyright infringement is intended and I don't make any money from writing fanfiction.

“Okay” Stiles mumbled to himself as he took a quick look around the hall to make sure that he had everything he needed and everyone was ready to go. Gone were the days when he just rolled out of bed, pulled on some clothes on the way to the kitchen where he snagged a bit of toast and then was ready to leave. Now getting out of the house was a major operation that needed to be executed with military precision or the consequences would be severe. Stiles shuddered when he remembered the first time they’d attempted to go on a family picnic together. The planning had not been up to par and as a result of that the afternoon had ended in tears for more than one of the participants. That particular event had thought him to check and double check anything and everything before he even attempted to head out of the house.

 

Dog? He looked down towards feet were Leia panted happily, her leash already fastened to her collar. Check! Kid? Stiles looked out to see Laura waiting on the porch. Check! Keys? Stiles rummaged through his pocket and fished them out. Check! Wallet? It was in his other pocket. Check! Water bottle? It was already in the car. Check! Snacks to avoid sudden hunger related grumpiness? Also already in the car. Check! Stiles grabbed his coat, Leia’s leash and headed out to the porch.

“All right then, are you ready to go, sweetie?” He asked Laura and the kid rolled her eyes.

“I was ready ten minutes ago, Uncle Stiles.” Stiles managed not to roll his eyes. It was easy for her to get ready, all she had to do was to put on her shoes and take her jacket. He on the other hand had to take care of everything else, like a proper grown-up, and that was not as easy as everyone might think.

::

Arriving at the station Stiles made the decision to not leave Leia in the car when they went in to pick up Derek. It was a sunny day and all the shadowed parking spots were already taken when they made it downtown. Stiles doubted that leaving the windows open would be enough to keep the car cool enough, especially since they might be staying for a while to talk to Stiles’ dad. On the other hand, he didn’t want to bring her into the station either, as one of the other deputies that had been hired at the same time as Derek was a dog handler. His service dog, a German Shepherd and Rottweiler cross breed, was gigantic and despite the fact that it had a heart of gold, it still scared the living daylight out of the tiny dachshund. Stiles wanted to spare the puppy’s nerves and he decided to tie her leash to one of the lampposts outside the building instead.

“Don’t you worry, we won’t be long” he promised the small dog as he petted her silky soft ears and then they went in to see his dad, Laura running before him with and laughing excitedly.

::

“Where is she?” Derek asked as soon as they’d left the building, looking around sharply, and Stiles groaned at the stupidity of the question.

“Seriously Derek, how do you even manage without me?” he asked, looking completely exasperated. “She’s right over... there…” Stiles mouth fell open when he turned to look at the lamppost that he’d tied Leia to, where there was currently no dog in sight, and the last word came out barely audible. “I mean… She was just…” He looked around frantically. “She’s… gone?”

“What?” Derek asked sharply and then repeated his first question. “Where is she? “

“She was right there!” Stiles yelled loudly, feeing the tendrils of panic starting to course through his body. “She was just right there, not even five minutes ago.” He pointed towards the now empty lamppost and Derek scowled.

“I couldn’t leave her in the car” Stiles tried to defend himself but found that he was hunching over to escape Derek’s wrath. “And I couldn’t bring her into the office, she’s terrified of that new monster dog.”

“Didn’t you fasten her leash properly?” Derek snapped accusingly as he crouched down to hug a distressed Laura who’d started crying when they couldn’t find Leia.

“Daddy, what if she’s been kidnapped?” she sobbed into his chest and Derek rubbed her back soothingly at the same time as he scanned their surroundings.

“We’ll find her, pup, don’t worry. She’ll be back in no time.”

::

It took them close to an hour but at last they found the small dachshund in a park, curled up under a dense bush with her tail tucked between her legs and whining quietly. Derek had to try his hardest to track her because of the number of people and dogs that passed through the park, and the fact that Leia seemed to have run all over the place before hiding.

 

After Laura was done hugging the puppy and showering her small nose with kisses, Derek took over and gently checked her for any injuries. Leia squirmed as he ran his large hands over her fur but it wasn’t because she was in pain, but because she wanted to be put down on the ground again. At last Derek deemed her examined enough and got a wet lick on the nose from the wiggling dog as he handed her over to his daughter with a firm order not to let go of Leia’s collar, as her leash was nowhere to be found.

 

“All good?” Stiles asked, feeling calmer now that Leia had been found, seemingly safe and sound, and the guilt that had been weighing down his stomach for the last hour slowly left him.

“Yes, but not thanks to you” Derek snapped. “I’ll take both of them straight home now, they need some peace and quiet after all this.” And without a word of goodbye Derek turned on his heel and stomped over to his car, one arm thrown over Laura’s shoulders and cradling Leia in the other. When both daughter and dog where safely in the car he unceremoniously tore out of the parking lot and left Stiles standing there alone to stare at the quickly disappearing car.

 

After a couple of minutes of mindless staring at nothing Stiles tried to collect himself, walked over to his own car and returned home to his empty house. Derek hadn’t even remembered that tonight was their movie night.


	2. Chapter 2

“So, hey” Stiles said uncertainly and scratched the back of his neck. He hadn’t seen Derek for nearly a week and he felt strangely nervous. “I, uh, just wanted to see how you’re doing, and I guess everyone else too… So, yeah...” His voice trailed away as Derek barely acknowledged his presence and shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other as he’d not been invited to sit down.

“We’re fine, Stiles, thanks for asking” Derek huffed out shortly without looking up from his computer screen.

“Good, that’s good” Stiles started rambling. “I mean that’s really…”

“Stiles?” Derek interrupted. “Did you want anything?”

“Oh, yes” Stiles thrust the small bag that he’d been holding into Derek’s hands but the other man just pushed it aside without looking at it. “I wanted to give you this sooner but I haven’t seen you since, like, last week, and uh, better late than never, right?”

“What is it?” Derek asked disinterestedly and Stiles swallowed hard.

“It’s a new leash for Leia” he answered and Derek looked up briefly.

“Thanks” he said. “But I’ve already bought her a new one.” Then he pushed the bag back towards Stiles and went back to typing.

“Oh, okay, I guess that’s, um... you can always use another one, right?”

“Did you want something else? Derek asked, a little more impatiently this time.

“Yes, uh, am I still picking up Laura after school tomorrow?” Stiles asked, feeling even more awkward now and Derek shook his head.

“No, I’ve got it covered” he answered, slamming the laptop shut and tucking it under his arm. “I have a meeting now” he announced in a tone of voice that clearly indicated that Stiles was dismissed and swept out of his office without another word. Stiles’ shoulders slumped as he pocketed the bag and left the office as well.

::

“Stiles?” The young man in question just groaned and pulled the blanket further up over his head. He should have known that his dad would see through his rather flimsy excuses sooner or later and that he’d not get away with moping around the house for much longer.

“Stiles!” his dad said again, this time trying to tug the covers away.

“Leave me alone!” Stiles batted ineffectively at his dad’s hand but was forced to give up. After all, the man had over twenty years of experience of waking Stiles up and so it was a lost battle before it even began. “What do you want?” he asked grumpily and his dad sighed.

“I’m worried about you, kid” he said, sitting down heavily. “You haven’t been out of your house for days. Did you argue with Scott?” Stiles shook his head. “Is it something about work? Having financial problems?” his dad continued and Stiles shook his head again. Work was good right now, and even if it wasn’t there was no way in hell he’d worry his dad by telling him. “Did you fall out with Derek?” Stiles winced at the question and, being both a policeman and Stiles’ dad, the Sheriff knew exactly what the small grimace meant.

“Oh, Stiles” he sighed. “What happened?” Stiles stubbornly shook his head before he answered.

“It’s just stupid, dad, I don’t want to talk about it.” His dad looked like he was going to push the issue and Stiles quickly held up a hand to stop him. “Really, dad, it’s just something we’ll have to solve ourselves” he insisted. “It’ll be fine, I promise.” His dad didn’t look convinced but he decided to drop the subject for the time being.

“All right, kid” he said, patting Stiles’ knee. “But if you want to talk about it…” He left the rest of the sentence fade away and Stiles gratefully pulled the covers back over his head. He should have known that his dad wouldn’t give up so easily, because one hour later he was bodily dragged from his bed by a very disgruntled werewolf.

“Dude, take a shower!” Scott complained loudly. “You stink!”

::

After a much needed shower and some curly fries from the diner, Scott had managed to coax the whole story out of Stiles. He might’ve had to threaten to call in Lydia and Erica as reinforcements to get his friend to talk but at the end of the day he’d managed to get Stiles to tell him everything, from start to finish and he wasn’t about to sit around with all that information without doing anything. His first suggestion had been stomping downtown and kicking Derek’s ass for being an insensitive jerk but Stiles managed to make him dismiss that option by pointing out that there were kids involved at this stage of their lives and that they couldn’t keep solving problems the same way that they’d done in high school. Scott reluctantly agreed and tried to come up with another idea.

 

“Maybe we could pick up a new leash, you know, with a safety clip on the end?” he suggested. “That way you won’t have to worry about not tying it properly when you leave her?”

“I did!” Stiles yelled furiously. “I fucking did tie it properly!” He threw his arms up, gesturing angrily. “Jeez, you and Derek both, thinking I’m still some kind of scatter-brained teenager” he snapped. “I can be responsible! I didn’t mess this up!” He slammed his mug of coffee down on the countertop, sloshing coffee all over his hand and then swept out of the kitchen. “And I fucking tried to by her a new leash!” Scott winced when the sound of the front door slamming shut reached his sensitive ears and sighed. This was going to be a long day he glumly thought before he got to his feet to drag Stiles back inside.

 

“Come on, Stiles, you can’t be mad at me forever.” Scott gave him his best puppy dog eyes but for once Stiles didn’t budge.

“I can and I will” he replied stubbornly, still refusing to look at Scott. “You and Derek _still_ think that it was my fault.”

“Come on, bro, that’s not what I meant, I just…” Scott chewed on his bottom lip, “Didn’t the security cameras catch anything?” he asked.

“The what?” Stiles snapped, to angry to really pay attention to was Scott was saying.

“It was outside the station, right? Then the…”

“So fucking stupid! Stiles exclaimed, sharply smacking himself over the forehead before jumping out of his seat. “I didn’t even think about that!”

::

Half an hour later Stiles had managed not only to storm into the station with enough speed to nearly cause his dad to have a heart attack, but he’d also gotten access to the security tapes, looked them over and found the sequence where he very clearly tied the leash properly (“Told you so, Scott!”) before entering the station. That sequence was promptly attached as a file to the very long, very angry e-mail that Stiles wrote to Derek that afternoon, complete with a list of reasons why Stiles Stilinski was a perfectly reasonable, responsible adult that could be entrusted with both children and dogs should need be. Also attached was the next part of the video, clearly showing the two little punks that had untied the leash and scared the small dog into running wildly towards the park. Stiles sent the e-mail, printed out photos of the dog-scaring idiots, had his dad send out someone to arrest them and then leaned back into the chair to take a small nap.

 

Now all he had to do was wait, since a certain werewolf was bound to come crawling, ready to beg forgiveness for his unjustified lack of faith in Stiles’ abilities as a parent.


End file.
